The Hood's Apprentice
by Midnight-Visored
Summary: Violet's life is destroyed by Two-Face and all she can think about is revenge when Jason Todd, the Red Hood agrees to take her on as an apprentice and teach her the vigilante life. However, everything goes to hell when they are not careful on her very first case and Violet may not even live long enough to see through her own revenge. Rated T for Jason's language and sexual scenes.
1. Chapter 1

As I lay on my bed reading one of the books I had recently collected from the Gotham city library, I listened to my parents argue through the paper thin walls of our small apartment. They had been fighting more frequently in the past year due to our financial state, Dad had lost his job as a security guard at a nearby warehouse because he could not prevent it from being robbed and he had been unable to find a job since. We had come very close to losing all that we owned until one day Dad came home with all the money we needed to pay the rent, it had seemed like a miracle, until a month later they came knocking. Two-face's men, come to collect the debt we owed but did not have. My mother was terrified and slammed the door in their faces shouting for them to leave, they did but not after saying something that made shivers run up my spine; "Hide while you can, we'll be back to collect the debt whether you have the money or not".

I sighed, trying to not think about the consequences my father's actions, sitting up I tied back my long black hair which was tickling my face. Eventually I gave up on my book and walked into the kitchen in search of a snack, pulling an apple from the fruit basket I munch on it thoughtfully walking in the living room. I'm suddenly surrounded by happier times as the photos on the walls smile at me. I walk over to my particularly favourite one which was taken last year, I had had received my black belt in karate, the grin on my face was wide, glee clear in my midnight blue eyes and my parents stood beside me looking especially proud at my accomplishment. I had always excelled in whatever I set out to do whether it was sports such as soccer or gymnastics or any form of academic fields. This however made it extremely hard to pinpoint what I wanted to do with my life as there were so many options. I shook my head and started to make my way back to my room to do homework when a knock came from the door.

I froze, wondering who would be here at ten at night, had two-face come? No, I was being over paranoid, I crossed living room, my hand hesitating as I turned the door knob, I heard my parents walk into the room as I opened the door. I learnt that day that usually your first gut feeling is correct and you should not ignore it because there in my doorway stood Harvey Dent, surrounded by his many henchmen.

"Ttt I warned you about what happens when you don't pay up" said Two-Face, a cynical smile forming on his face.

"Violet get away from him!" my father shouted at me and I went to run over to my parents but before I could, I was grabbed by one of the henchmen, pressing a knife to my throat, my mother screamed as I struggled against him, only stopping when he pushed the knife into my throat, causing warm blood to slowly flow from the small cut.

"Please, we'll pay, just give us some more time, don't hurt her." My father begged frantically, standing protectively in front of my mother.

Harvey Dent appeared to ponder the plea for a moment before saying;

"I gave you two months to pay up… I think that your time is up and if I can't be paid in money, I'll make you pay in blood." As he spoke his right hand came up aiming the gun at my parents.

I opened my mouth to scream at him to stop, to plead for mercy but nothing came out, the only sounds I heard were two loud bangs which inevitably ended my world as I knew it. My mind exploded in grief and sorrow but I wilfully repressed it, managing to surprise my captor by breaking free, elbowing him in the head, knocking him out. Taking full advantage of their surprise I managed to take down two more men, knocking them too into unconsciousness until they managed to overwhelm me with their numbers, forcing me to the ground, arms brought behind my back.

I looked up to see Two-face grinning at me, the pure glee that came from murdering my parents shining in his eyes. He indicated for the five remaining men that weren't restraining me to enter my apartment, my eyes widened in horror as I saw what they held in their hands; gasoline and matches. They were going to burn my home down; there was still a chance that my parents were alive.

"Please!" I screamed as the men exited the building quickly, fire slowly engulfing the apartment. "Please stop!"

Harvey Dent looked at me, a delighted spark lit in his eyes as he started to walk away.

"You guys can have her, I'm done here." He called back as he descended the staircase.

One of the men flipped me over, holding my wrists to the ground as the rest of the group looked on with malice and a disturbing sense of lust. I spat up at the poorly dressed henchmen and managed to hit my knee into his crotch as hard as I could, causing him to roll off me, groaning in agony. I jumped up, ready to fight my way out of there but my head was slammed against a nearby wall, causing my vision to blur. I dropped to the ground fighting for consciousness.

"We need to make this quick or we'll burn along with this building." Said one man who was on my right side.

"I say we just kill her, she's more trouble than she's worth." I looked up recognising the man who I had kneed glaring at me. Murmurs of agreement were heard around me, a feeling of dread filled me and I was roughly yanked up and held against the wall, the stench of the man's breath causing me to turn my head in disgust.

"I'm gunna enjoy this" He said with a smile pulling out a knife and holding it to my neck.

"Fuck you." I say, closing my eyes and waiting for death to come.

But it doesn't.

A loud bang sounds and the man collapses in front of me, the whole room froze, everyone was stunned, the only noise was the crackle of the fire coming from my home. Next thing I knew a figure came crashing through the window on the side of the hall. Taking advantage of the confusion I hit the nearest guy as hard as I could in the temple, knocking him unconscious or even possibly killing him but I didn't care. Loud bangs were heard again and I turned to the figure that had saved my life. He had shot all the remaining henchmen; they lay dead at our feet. He was tall and wore a simple leather jacket over his outfit but what really drew my attention was the red helmet he wore.

"Well shit, you're the red hood aren't you?" I mumble as he slowly turns to me, I feel his eyes penetrate mine beneath that helmet.

"We need to leave now." He grunts, grabbing me roughly and leading me towards the staircase.

"We can't, my parents, they're still in there!" I yell, trying in vain to release myself from his iron grip on my arm.

"They're dead," He growled at me harshly, "and you're alive, come with me if you want to stay that way." I hesitate, staring at the fire that had engulfed my home and took a shuddering breath, accepting his words.

"Okay, let's go." I mutter and let him lead me out of the apartment complex. When we got out into the cold night air, I could hear sirens in the distance and yells from others that lived in the same building as they looked up at the blaze. No-one seemed to notice us amongst the chaos.

The Red Hood released my arm and turned to stare at me, I shuttered, it was impossible to read him through the blood coloured helmet he adorned on his head but then he surprised me asking;

"Nice moves in there, were did you learn that?" He inquired with genuine curiosity.

"I uh… completed my black belt in karate last year… I've also dabbled in other fighting sports over the years… it just comes naturally to me."

The man whistled and stated with a level of surprise; "That's impressive for such a young age, you do realise that you're actions killed a person."

"You're one to talk." I retorted, looking up at my burning home with sadness however I forced the thoughts of my deceased parents out of my mind. Mourning could come later.

The Red Hood snorted and turned to walk away and I grabbed at his arm. He whipped around, yanking his arm from my grasp.

"Hey, no touching okay. I have to go," He growled at me, "The Bat and his little birdy will be here soon and we don't play nice together." And with that he stalked off.

After a moment's hesitation I followed him into the darkness, I was positive that he knew I was following him and as such he did not stop until we reached a dark alley and he turned to face me yet again.

"Don't you have somewhere to be kid?" He asked, exasperated.

"For your information, the last of my family died in that building so I have nowhere to go. There is no place I can go at seventeen years without anyone to support me and who are you calling a kid? How old are you anyway?"

The Hood looked up for a moment before replying, "Twenty-one…I think… now scram, I can't do anything else for you, solve your own problems." He said, making a move towards a nearby fire escape which he seemed determined to climb so he could get to the roof. I stepped in front of him.

"Train me." I blurted out and he froze before laughing in my face.

"Train you? Riiight like that'll happen, listen kid, I don't need a sidekick." He said with a slightly amused tone, pushing past me and walking away.

"I want revenge or vengeance, whatever you call it, I want to kill Two-face for what he did tonight." I growled at the back of the Red Hood, determined for him to hear what I had to say. The tall man froze and tensed, I had obviously said something right… or terribly wrong.

"Vengeance you say" He murmured thoughtfully, suddenly he whipped around throwing a punch directly at me, I quickly dodged it and looked up in surprise as he continued to come at me, punches and kicks coming from all directions now as I tried to avoid them all. I back flipped out of his reach but he continued to come at me until I finally took the offensive, aiming a kick at his chest which he easily deflected. We continued brawling for what seemed like ages but he had landed many blows to me whilst I never managed to touch him. Finally his kick pulled my feet out from underneath my and I fell onto my back, winded. I quickly tried to get up but his boot slammed onto my chest preventing me from moving any further.

"Death, are you afraid of death?" He growled harshly at me as I lay glaring at him from the ground.

"No." was my simple reply and it was the truth, in reality I had nothing left to live for, it had been ripped away from me and burnt in that fire.

Slowly the red hood shook his head in wonder before removing his foot and helping me up. "What's your name kid?"

"Violet… my name is Violet Adams." I replied.

"Well Violet, you win, follow me." The Red Hood said and climbed up on to the fire escape, continuing up onto the roof. I looked behind me, in the direction of where my apartment had been located, the sound of sirens still in the air. And then I turned and followed the Red Hood, leaving the life I knew behind, for good.

Half an hour later we both stood in a small run-down apartment located in the infamous Crime Alley, the faint sound of sirens ringing was a constant background noise. I was glad I had not taken off my shoes when I got home because that would have made the journey here extremely difficult. My eyes scanned the room which was fairly clean apart from the few beer cans which littered the lounge chair. I eventually turned to face the Red Hood who to my surprise was removing his helmet. I stared taken aback when he revealed his surprisingly handsome face. His hair was messy and coloured raven black except for one strip of hair which was stark white, his eyes still hidden by a blood red domino mask which he soon removed, revealing piercing blue eyes which seem to stare at me with an intimidating glare. Talk about brooding, I thought to myself.

"You can take the couch" he said tossing me a blanket he had picked up, "you look like you need some sleep" he spoke nonchalantly but I swore I could pick up a hint of sincereness in his tone. I simply nodded, too tired to argue and removed the cans from the couch before collapsing upon it. Weariness coming over me suddenly but after a moment I sat upright looking at the retreating Red Hood.

"What do I call you?… I mean it's cool if you don't want me to know your real name and all but I don't really want to be calling you the _Red Hood_all the time it would get kinda weird" I blurted out and he paused, not turning to face me, seemingly pondering what I had just asked. In the end he shrugged and called over his shoulder;

"The name's Jason…Jason Todd." He said before walking into a nearby room which I assumed was his bedroom. I nodded slowly, mostly to myself and lay back down, pulling the blanket up to my shoulders. I crawled into a tight ball, and the horror of the nights events hit me. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, trying to shut out the sight of my parents being gunned down, the fear in my mother's eyes and then the huge blaze which had engulfed them. This sight however wouldn't leave me, I repressed a sob, refusing to let myself break…to mourn. There was plenty of time for that later, when I had completed my revenge.

I stood along Jason on the rooftop of his apartment complex as we overlooked Crime Alley, it had been three months since that awful night that I refused to remember. I had gone through unbelievably difficult training with Jason and now finally he was allowing me to come with him on patrol. He had allowed me to pick my vigilante outfit and I had settled on a similar outfit to him with a few adjustments. I wore a plain black t-shirt with cargo pants and combat boots however in the place of his leather jacket I wore a cape which Jason had called impractical but hey I loved the theatrics. Finally I wore a plain purple domino mask to hide both my midnight blue eyes and identity, from whom I was not sure. As Jason double checked his guns which he had placed in his holsters on his upper thighs, I reached down to check if my twin set of guns were securely placed as well, I would get so much crap from Jason if they fell out.

Tonight we were investigating various murders that Jason's sources believed to be the work of the Joker himself. The victims were always left with a smile carved into their faces by a blade.

"I hope it's really him. I can't stand fucking copy cats" growled Jason before he leapt of the roof across to the next one in the direction of where the next victim was believed to be. I hoped with all my heart that we could get there in time and save the person from the torture they would endure.

It was tiring, leaping off rooftops but Jason repetitively told me that the only other choices were public transport or walking and I wasn't too fond of those ideas. However I was surprisingly enjoying it, the surge of adrenaline that coursed through me as only air was beneath my feet was incredible. I couldn't help but let out a yell of glee as I managed to mickey flip over one of the gaps, in front of me I heard Jason mutter;

"Oh grow up" but I just smiled and in spite of myself stuck my tongue out at him which led to him snorting, slightly amused at my immaturity. In the few months that I had lived with Jason, I had learnt that he lacked the ability to show his true emotions and as a result he came off as a brooding young man. I did not doubt, however, that his past dealt with some dark secrets. He had hinted at some stage that the rumours were true and he had in fact been a Robin at one stage but he refused to go into detail.

The night air in Gotham was exhilarating to me, I was looking forward to my first piece of action which didn't entail a sparring session with the Red Hood himself. I had been itching to go on patrol since my first week of training began but Jason had bluntly refused, saying bad things happen to those who are unprepared. Finally after I had managed to best him in one of my matches did he agree to me tagging along. I felt like a side-kick but that was good enough for me.

Jason stopped suddenly and I ran to stand beside him, he pointed at the balcony of a huge apartment building, the door was open and the curtain was billowing in the wind.

"Fuck, we're probably too late." Growled Jason and he motioned for me to grab onto his as he pulled out his grappling hook, seeming to double check it.

"You're not worried it's broken or something are you" I inquired, not in the mood to fall to my death tonight. Jason shook his head.

"Nah, it's just one time I mistook my gun for this and the result was…embarrassing." I giggled at his remark as I grabbed his waist tightly and he shot the hook and glided us up onto the balcony where we silently entered, drawing our weapons. The room was dark except for the flickering of the fridge light which had been left open. Jason motioned for me to check the bedrooms as he moved towards the living room. I walked cautiously into the first bedroom and squinted, my eyes adjusting to the dark. When I finally saw the body which was tied to the bed, a fresh smile carved into their face I gasped and fell backwards, causing a loud crashing noise. Jason was there in a heartbeat, searching the room for danger but when he found none except for the body, he grimaced and gave me a hand to help me up.

"We're too late." I whispered, looking closer at the body for any clues that the murderer had left behind. Jason kicked the wall in his anger.

"I can fucking see that!" he snapped at me but I ignored him, determined on the task at hand. My foot hit a metal object on the ground and I curiously bent to pick it up and grinned triumphantly at Jason, shoving the can in his line of sight.

"At least we can guarantee that it's definitely the Joker, he left his can of smilex here." I said, glad that our trip to the apartment was not a complete waste of time. Jason took the can from me and placed it in his pocket.

"Okay I hate to cut this short but we better go before they arrive." He said abruptly and I automatically knew he meant Batman and Robin. I nodded and we hurriedly exited the apartment and made our way over to the nearby building rooftop. I looked back at the building, the curtains flowed ominously in the wind as if to warn others away. I realised that I had crossed a line into a place where there was no turning back, I was now a masked vigilante who would tread where others feared to go. I shook my head, trying to clear it and turned back to Jason who seemed impatient. As we began to move a huge shadow appeared in front of us blocking our path and it of course to the worst of our luck was Batman himself.

"Speak of the devil" I muttered and spun around when I heard a noise behind me and there stood Robin, the boy wonder. We glared at each other, the tension building but before anyone else could speak I couldn't help myself, I simply said; "Woah…dude you're short."

Robin seemed taken aback and growled; "Shut up you have no room to talk, criminal." Ouch. Okay I had to admit I was a bit below average in height but not to his ridiculous standards. Robin moved around to take his place at Batman's side.

"Move…now." Growled Jason, his voice extremely menacing. I had to give Batman credit; he didn't even react in the slightest to the Red Hood's threatening tone.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this case Hood." Batman said in a tone that threatened to outdo Jason.

"Since when do you tell me what to do Bats? Now get out of our way." Jason said stiffly through clenched teeth, his parents nearing an end. I stood silently, in a defensive position, ready to attack at a moment's notice; it was then that Batman first seemed to register my presence. I felt his eyes beneath that cowl analysing me and I felt exposed.

"Who are you?" He asked simply, his voice gravely as he tried to hide it. Wait. Why would he be trying to hide his voice. Thoughts ran through my head as I thought about this and finally I smirked at him.

"The bigger question is who are you. It's simple enough, the only person rich enough to afford all this equipment and famous enough to need to hide his real voice is of course Bruce Wayne. Added clues that make this all too painfully obvious is the fact that your first Robin appeared only a short time after you adopted Richard Grayson, that circus boy." I said, amusement clear in my tone. "It's a wonder that no-one else has figured it out." I rolled my eyes at Batman, hoping to hell that I was correct or I had just made an utter and complete fool out of myself. The long silence, filled with only a bark of laughter from Jason that followed confirmed this.

Finally Batman repeated; "Who are you?" in a more forceful and menacing tone which left me a little frightened as hard as it was to admit. I looked at Jason, willing him to answer as we hadn't exactly figured out an alias for me. He looked at me quickly and then turned to Batman and said;

"Not that it's any of your business but she's called Midnight." I blinked, that could work I thought, there were a million worse names I could have thought of, at least it wasn't purple mask. Batman's glare moved over to Jason.

"So you're endangering someone else's life along with yours, this is stupid, even for you." Wow what a douche bag I thought.

"I gave her the choice, I trained her properly and she knows the risks." He growled and then after a pause added, "more clearly than I did." There was hurt clear in Jason's voice now no matter how much he tried to hide it. It could had been a trick of the light but I swore that I saw the Bat's glare falter for a moment.

"Jason." Batman said, taking a step towards us.

"Too late." Said Jason bluntly and with that he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away in the night, when I had the chance I tossed a glance back to see if Batman and Robin were pursuing us but they weren't. They were gone, lost in the night. If I had gotten anything out of this encounter it was that I was now sure that Jason had once, long ago, fought under Batman.

"That was…intense" I said as we climbed through the window of our apartment, it was 4am and we had managed to take down a drug lab and a few small gangs around the city. I carried some bruises from the fights but was otherwise fine. I pulled off my cape and tossed my mask onto the counter as Jason removed his helmet silently. "Hungry?" I questioned, pulling a bag of chips from the pantry. He nodded and I opened them, sitting down on the couch, turning the television on as Jason came to join me.

"You did well tonight" Jason said finally after a lengthy silence as we watched the early morning news.

"Don't sound so surprised! I was trained well." I replied with a smile creeping on my face and he turned to look at me, amusement dancing in his piercing blue eyes.

"The Bat's face was priceless when you revealed his identity, it made my night." He smiled, thinking back on the memory. "It's not often you get to surprise him like that."

"Oh thank god I was right… I was fairly sure he was Bruce but I wouldn't have been able to live it down if I had gotten that wrong" Jason just laughed at me.

"And that demon brat looked ready to jump you right then and there, I think patrols will be a lot more fun with you around."

I felt astonished and happy at the same time; Jason had never really shown this warmth towards me before, it was strangely comforting.

"Thanks" I replied simply as exhaustion swept over me, I put my head on Jason's shoulder watching the news whilst I fought to stay awake a little while longer. I felt Jason tense at my touch but after a while he slowly relaxed. And slowly I fell into the welcoming arms of sleep.

"Are you sure you want to come tonight, you look like you're still tired from last night" Jason said as he put his blood red mask over his eyes. I rolled my eyes at him as I swung my cape around my shoulders, tying it securely.

"I'm not a child Jay I can handle a late night or two." I saw him cringe at the nickname, clearly not fond of it.

"It's Jason" he growled and I shrugged at him. Five minutes later we were on our way to another apartment as Jason's ever helpful contacts had another lead on a victim. Jason didn't waste any time at all, as soon as we got to the rooftop he was off, sprinting towards our destination. I struggled to keep up but didn't complain, it was clear that he was worried we would miss our chance to save this person.

To my utter despair as we ran, rain began to pour; soaking us both and causing the rooftops to be slippery but even then Jason didn't slow down. We were just about to jump to another roof when I slipped a little, leaving me unable to gather the momentum I needed to land on the next roof. I gave a cry as I only just managed to grasp the ledge with one hand to prevent me from falling but the rain prevented my grip from staying strong, I screamed as I slipped from the gutter. But just as soon as I had fallen, I felt a hand grab my wrist and I looked up to see the Red Hood standing above me. Jason quickly pulled me up with a tug and I stood there, catching my breathe. I looked up at Jason who was standing next to me, a questioning look on his face.

"I'm fine, let's go." I growled, trying to hide my embarrassment at my own clumsiness. He nodded and continued across the buildings, now occasionally tossing a glace back, to check on me which made me extremely self-conscious. After what felt like hours, we finally reached the apartment we were searching for. Contrary to the past place, there was no sign of forced entry that could be seen from our place on a nearby rooftop. Jason took out a pair of binoculars, getting a better view of the place, I waited patiently as he assessed the situation. Finally he sighed and turned to me.

"Well we might be early for once." He said in a disbelieving tone as he reached and brought out his grappling hook.

"Or it's a trap" I said as I grabbed his waist, bracing myself. Jason laughed gruffly and said;"Or there's that."

We landed lightly on the balcony of the expensive looking apartment and I reached for the doorknob, twisting it, finding it to be locked. I looked at Jason, raising an eyebrow;

"Plan B?" I asked. Jason grinned and pulled out what looked like a bobby pin, sticking it into the lock, after a few seconds there was a satisfying click and the door opened. I just shook my head in disbelief, "I thought that only worked in movies." I muttered to myself.

"After you." Said Jason, gesturing for me to walk inside.

"You're too kind." I said jokingly. I tried to ignore the tight knot in my stomach that told me something wasn't right. I looked around the house, everything was still and it was unsettling.

"I hate to sound cliché, but it's too quiet, something's wrong." As I said these words a felt my foot pull against something and I looked down to see a tripwire. I turned to give a warning to Jason but the room had already filled up with smoke. I heard Jason curse softly as I fell to my knees, the light fading from my eyes as I tried to fight to stay conscious but to no avail. I fell to the ground, lying there as darkness quickly consumed my world and the unforgettable chilling laughter surrounding I lost consciousness.

**JASON TODD'S POV**

Pain throbbed in my skull as I awoke. I sat up quickly as my memories came back to me and found myself surprisingly unbound and in the apartment where I had lost consciousness.

"Vio-" I stopped myself from yelling her real name and then tried again. "Midnight! Where are you?" I looked around frantically for her and my panic increased as I realised she was not there. I felt dread rush through me as I saw a note lying next to me. It was written with a sickening green pen, It red;

_Well Hoody looks like you've found yourself a new pet. I tell you what, why don't we play a game. If you can find her in twenty-four hours then you might get her back in one piece, if not she'll be in pieces. Good luck, you better hurry if you don't want her to meet the same fate you did!_

_-Joker_

I felt rage rise in me and I kicked a nearby wall in my fit of anger, leaving a huge whole there.

"Fuck!" I yelled, this was all my fault, I should have been more careful. For once I was at a loss at what to do, grief and fury clouding my thoughts, I did the one thing I swore I would never do. Pulling out my mobile I dialled the number and put the phone to my ear. After a few rings a familiar voice answered; "Hello?"

"Bruce, it's Jason, I fucked up, I need your help."


	2. Chapter 2

VIOLET'S POV

The first thing I noticed when I regained consciousness was the throbbing pain in my head and I let out a small groan. I squinted as I opened my eyes and let them adjust to my dim surroundings; I was in a warehouse which for the most part seemed abandoned. I felt the cold metal on my wrists and then realised that I was in fact, one hand was handcuffed to a piece of thick metal piping. Shit. I looked around, trying not to panic, where was Jason? Was he dead? Why was I still alive? These questions flooded in to my mind as I tugged at the handcuffs, trying in vain to free myself from them.

A sudden bang of a door slamming shut got my attention though and my head snapped in the direction of the noise. There, only metres from my was the Joker himself, followed by at least ten other henchmen. Shit, I was definitely in trouble. I glared at him as his gaze turned to me, his permanent smile somehow becoming even wider. Glee sparkled in his eyes, causing a shiver to run down my back.

"Look here boys, the Hoody's side kick has woken, looks like the funs about to begin." The joker chuckled, that's when I noticed the long metal object he held in his hand. A crowbar. I shrank back, Jason had mentioned a run in with the Joker he had which involved a Joker, it didn't sound pleasant. I began to wish that Jason had finished that story and told me how he got out of that situation because I sure needed some advice.

"Aww look the mask is scared." Snickered one of the henchmen.

"Where's the Red Hood?" I spat at the Joker, it took everything I had to prevent my voice from shaking.

"Dead." The Joker laughed, "I killed the Hoody and now you get to join him." He was now laughing in fits as if he had made the funniest joke ever. Dread flooded through me. If Jason was dead then no-one was coming for me. I had no chance. I was dead.

Well I guess I was always meant to die and Jason had tricked faith when he had rescued me from Two-Face and now fate was here to claim my life. I swallowed my fear and gathered up my dignity, I would not cry, I would not be afraid.

The Joker seemed to notice my recovery and looked at me curiously. For a second I though he was going to ask me something, however, the next thing I knew, the crowbar was hitting me. I cried out in pain as it hit me on the side of the face. Laughter filled my ears as the blows continued to come, agony filling me, unable to escape the pain I lay there in the foetal position waiting to die.

Finally after what seemed like forever, the beating stopped and I heard the Joker bend down next to me, he whispered in my ear;

"What does it feel like, to lose all hope, to know you will never be saved?" Pure glee was present in his voice and it disgusted, gathering some remaining strength I spat at him. A mixture of blood and spit hit his powdered face and he recoiled.

"He he, this one's just like Hoody…. And now she'll die just like him!" He giggled maniacally.

I managed to push myself up into a sitting position, my many broken bones screamed in protest and I bit my lip, drawing blood, to prevent myself from crying out, one of my lungs must have collapsed because I was struggling to even get a breathe in. My eyes had trouble focusing but I saw Joker dance over to what looked like a stack of explosives. After a minute a count-down started. Five minutes. The Joker smiled over at me before ushering the other henchmen to follow him out of the room.

"Oh and say hello to the Hoody for me!" He called over his shoulder as he exited the warehouse.

Five minutes. Well I could see myself either just staying here alone waiting to die, or think of some way to escape the warehouse. The odds of actually escaping were rather poor. I looked around frantically looking for something to help me rid myself of the handcuffs. After a precious minute an idea came into my head, hope threatening to dawn in myself. With my free hand I pulled a bobby pin from my blood matted hair and set to work on unlocking the handcuffs. Sweat poured down my forehead and my heart beated painfully in my chest as I tried to unlock the handcuffs. Finally like a sound from heaven I heard a satisfying click and the handcuffs opened up.

I whipped my head to the bomb. I had two minutes. I pulled myself off the ground to stand unsteadily, the pain was excruciating and I let out a cry as I fell back to the ground. Crawling it was then. I pulled myself across the ground, my body crying out in protest. All I had to do was get to the door in time and I would live. I slowly got closer to the door but when I looked back to the bomb I found that I only had a minute remaining as a reflex I tried to crawl faster but my body spasmed and I was no longer able to move. I screamed in frustration. I had come so close to escaping, to living but it wasn't to be. I looked at the clock, forty seconds and counting. My last blossom of hope faded into oblivion and I closed my eyes, accepting my fate.

It happened in a matter of moments. Glass suddenly shattered, opening my eyes I watched as a figure jumped through the window followed by another two others. The largest of the three who arrived first ran over to the bomb and started to play with the wires. One of the others ran towards me and I squinted to see who it was.

"Violet?" Jason's voice shouted, worry and fear mixed in his voice. I must have looked pretty dead because he gave a huge sigh of relief when he got closer seeing my chest rise and fall as I struggled to breathe. He carefully examined me being more delicate than I had ever seen him be.

"You're alive." I said, followed by a fit of coughs which made my whole body fill with agony. "Fuck!" I muttered through clenched teeth.

"Batman has disarmed the bomb and the Joker's gone. I'm here for you now." Jason said, he tried to keep his composure, his voice however cracked a little, betraying him. Behind him I saw Robin looking around where I had been handcuffed, he picked up the discarded crowbar and turned to us.

"Uh… Red Hood?" He looked a little cautious of Jason.

Jason looked away from me towards Robin and I saw his body tense up.

"Fuck. No fucking way. I'll kill him!" Jason shouted and stood up in his rage, seeming to forget me, he headed for the door. Batman was there in a flash, having disarmed the bomb, he grabbed Jason's arm.

"Jason, we need to get her back to the manor, Alfred needs to look at her or she will die." Batman's said in a gentler tone than usual, obviously trying to calm Jason down. It worked, Jason froze and looked back at Batman and then to me. His face hidden by the red mask he wore but I imagined that the anger was now gone.

"Back to the manor?" Jason asked confused, "You would allow us to stay there?"

"Jason, you've always been welcome back, it is your home." Said Batman, staring intently at Jason who squirmed under his gaze.

"Fine, but as soon as Violet recovers, we're leaving. It's not my home; I'm not that child I was anymore." Batman nodded at Jason's statement before moving over to me. He assessed my injuries and then looked at me.

"It would too painful to move you whilst you are awake due to your many broken bones so I am going to give you an injection that will make you lose consciousness." He said to me, removing a needle from his utility belt.

"Okay." I whispered as he injected it into me, the world immediately falling into blackness.

AN: Please Review... it motivates really motivates me to write another chapter soon! thanks! :)


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up suddenly and sat up quickly, regretting it almost immediately as pain flooded through me. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut until it subsided and looked down to see all my wounds had been patched up, my right arm in a cast. Great. That'll take forever to heal. I looked around the room I was in, it was massive, red curtains covered the huge windows and I sat in a comfy bed in the centre of the room. I looked at a clock that was opposite me, it was late afternoon. With great effort I managed to get out of bed. I limped over to the door and opened it to reveal an incredibly long hallway with many doors.

"Okay, I'm already lost" I whispered to myself. I headed left, following my gut instinct, I was wearing white cotton shorts, bruises littered my bare legs but it did not seem like I had broken any bones in them thankfully. My ribs however were another story, the mere act of breathing was fairly painful. Finally I came to a dead end. I scratched my head, this place was huge, I was pretty sure that I was in the Wayne manor if my faint memory served me right.

"Ah, should you be up?" A voice said suddenly and I whipped around to face them. It was a boy who looked a little younger than Jason with blue eyes and black hair. He was also a fair bit shorter than Jason was. His eyes stared at me, concern flickering in them as if he was worried that I would collapse at any moment.

"Where's Jason?" I all but demanded in a tone that was a bit harsher than I intended.

The boy's brow creased a little at the mention of Jason before he replied;

"Downstairs, brooding in the lounge I presume, I'm Tim Drake by the way." He extended his hand and I stared at it cautiously before extending my uninjured hand to shake his.

"I'm Violet" I said, "Can you show me to him?" I was getting extremely nervous without Jason, all I wanted was to get out of this strange place.

Tim smiled at me, "sure, follow me." He started to walk in the opposite direction and I followed him closely, trying not to lose him within the many halls of this manor. It was painful to walk but Tim had obviously adjusted his pace so that I could keep up.

"Wait that demon child isn't down there is he?" I asked suddenly, not wanting to come face to face with that shorty in my current condition. Tim laughed at me.

"Demon child? I'm assuming you mean Damian, no he's not home at the moment so your safe."

I nodded to myself and as we reached the stairs he turned to me suddenly.

"So… before we go down, I'm curious, just how does one actively becomes close with Todd, I mean I'm sure you've noticed, he's a bit of a loner."

I looked away from Tim staring down the stairs, "He helped me when I needed it most and with nothing left in my own life for me I followed him."

Tim studied me closely; I felt his eyes on me for a moment before he nodded slowly and began to walk down the stairs, keeping his pace slow so I could keep up. Pain shot up my legs with every step but I refused to allow it to get to me.

Finally we entered a dark room where a figure sat in the corner in a chair, his legs sat up on the coffee table.

"Seriously Todd? Turn on the light, its pitch black in here." Todd muttered, rolling his eye as he switched the lights on.

"It helps me think." Jason growled back and then turned to us. Upon seeing me he jumped up.

"Violet! Why are you up, you should be resting." He said, worry flooding into his voice. I caught a look of surprise appear on Tim's face, apparently he wasn't used to seeing Jason worried and really neither was I.

"How long was I out?" I inquired thoughtfully, wondering how truly bad my injuries were to make Jason worry like this.

"Three days. God Violet you scared the shit out of me. I thought I might lose you." Jason shook his head and then suddenly seemed to become aware of Tim in the room and all emotion faded from his face leaving only a grim expression.

"I'm fine now anyway thanks… I'm surprised you got Bruce to come and help though." I said as I thought back to that night. I was definitely going to have some hellish nightmares from now on.

"I didn't have a choice. There was no way I would have found you in time by myself." Jason shrugged, I saw frustration on his face, he definitely hated the idea of owing Bruce.

"Where is Bruce anyway?" I asked feeling weird being in his manor but not yet seeing him.

"Right here." A deep voice said behind me causing me to jump and I turned around to see the one and only Bruce Wayne.

"Now that you're awake, I think it's time we have a talk" Bruce said, frowning slightly, he motioned for me to sit over at the couch next to Jason, intimidated by his presence I immediately limped my way over to sit next to Jason. I immediately felt more at ease when my arm brushed his familiar leather jacket and his scent came over me.

Jason rolled his eyes, "There's nothing to say" he muttered under his breath, crossing his arm and looking away from Bruce. Bruce stood silently staring intently at Jason who in turn stubbornly refused to look back. Tim who was standing against a nearby wall, arms folded, coughed awkwardly which seemed to snap Bruce out of it and he turned towards me, realising he would be getting nothing from Jason. I felt intimidated by his gaze but I couldn't help but stare right back.

"So Miss Adams, do you want to tell me why you're running around trying to get yourself killed every night with Jason?" He said, his voice was void of all emotion.

"I'm not a child, I know how to hold my own in a fight, what happened with a Joker… what happened with Joker was just a stupid mistake." I said steadily, there was no way he would scare me out of this, I had made my choice. There was no going back.

"Mistake? You're calling this a mistake? You nearly died because you stupidly went to investigate a place I told you two not to." He growled at me and I sat there in silence, saying nothing, it was however, Jason who chose to talk next.

"We don't need to take this crap from you Bruce, come on Violet we should get back to my apartment." Standing up, he grabbed my uninjured arm and helped me up and pulled me in the direction of the door.

I heard Bruce sigh before he hurriedly stepped in front of us. "Stay Jason, at least wait until she's healed. Crime alley is no place for her to be in the state she's in.

The two men stood there, Jason glaring and Bruce just looking at him looking extremely tired. After what seemed like hours Jason's shoulders relaxed.

"Fine but after that we are leaving immediately and it'll be back to how it was." Jason said reluctantly. I didn't know whether I should have felt happy or disappointed at Jason's choice. Frankly I was really just too damned sore to really care.

Bruce nodded; seemingly satisfied with the response, if I didn't know better I would guess that Bruce was glad Jason was staying.

"What the hell is going on here." A familiar voice demanded from behind Bruce who stepped out of the way to bring a disgruntled little boy standing their frowning at the group of us.

"Hey Damian" Tim said.

**AN: Sorry guys for the long wait… I have had awful writers block and so many assignments, I finally managed to force myself to sit down and write something. I really do want to write a bit more with Damian and so you'll probably be seeing a fair bit more of him because aside from Jason he is my favourite robin :). Anyway please review, I guarantee the more reviews I get the quicker I write because it's so encouraging. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Set after Violet's wounds are healed… sorry I couldn't think of much to do whilst she was injured**

I dodged Damian's incoming punch and threw back my own which was quickly deflected before I back flipped onto a nearby crate to gather my senses, Damian did not even blink as he jumped up after me. His brow creased in concentration as he advanced on me, I swept my leg at him and I jumped out of its way. Sweat poured down my brow and he was breathing heavily, we were fairly equally matched. I had to use all of my gymnastic, karate and training from Jason just so I wouldn't get beaten down by this child. In the time that I had lived in the Wayne manor I had mostly kept to myself as every time I left my room I would end up in an awkward conversation with someone. The only one I had really connected with was Tim who helped me to play the odd prank on Damian which of course got me on the demon's bad side.

Jason for the most part had stayed away from the manor as much as he could, the few hours he did visit was to either sleep or talk to me, he seemed to go out of his way to avoid Bruce and I didn't blame him. That man was bloody intimidating but in my defence he is the god-damn Batman.

Using a nearby wall I ran up it, flipping myself over Damian before successfully kicking him in the back sending him to the ground. Taking the advantage, I jumped on top of him, pinning his arms behind his back to prevent him from moving, Damian growled at me in frustration.

"We have a winner" Tim said happily from the other side of the training room. I walked over and he high-fived me, I grinned, grabbing a water bottle from the tray Alfred had set out for us.

"Whatever, I went easy on you" muttered Damian as he stalked from the room, casting a half-hearted glare in my direction, obviously pretty exhausted.

"I'm glad to see you've fully recovered" Said Jason who came to stand next to Tim who now looked kind of uncomfortable. The tension between the two of them was huge, both refused to tell me why but I had my suspicions that they had had a run in in the past.

I smiled nodding, "Look I could do this for hours, there's absolutely no pain at all" I said and I did a handstand. Jason looked at me for a second before the ghost of a smile appeared on his face and he pushed my leg and I fell down.

"No showing off." Said, rolling his eyes and then his eyes scanned the training room. "God I hated this place when I lived here, I always preferred the real thing."

"So do I." I said an obvious hint in my voice and Jason raised an eyebrow sceptically at me.

"Not tonight, I'm closing in on a huge drug ring and I'm going to try to finish them off tonight, I think it might be best if you started another night with something smaller."

I groaned, I was so desperate to get back into the field that I didn't feel as if I couldn't wait another night.

"Come on Jay, I'll try to stay out of the main fight." I begged but Jason was already shaking his head. I frowned, frustrated at both Jason and myself and was about to walk off when Tim piped up.

"Maybe Violet can come with me on patrol tonight, we'll stick to muggers and thieves around Crime Alley, nothing big." Tim said, staring at Jason curiously. Hope lit up in my eyes as Jason looked between the two of us defeated.

"I guess I can see nothing wrong with that but Tim, if anything happens to her I will kill you" Jason replied threateningly but Tim was unaffected by it. I stood there with a stupid grin on my face.

"Thank you Tim!" I exclaimed, bursting with excitement and without even thinking I kissed him on the cheek. Tim stood there stunned and Jason looked…hurt? No, that couldn't be right, Jason could never like me that way… right?. "I'll go change in to my uniform now." I said hurriedly, running upstairs directly to my room.

I changed out of my tank top and shorts and searched through my bags for my costume, I put on my familiar cargo pants and black t-shirt followed by my beloved cape. As I reached in to search for my mask my fingers hit a piece of paper and I pulled it out. It was a newspaper clipping of my parents and I that I had found a week after their murder. We stood there, smiling, my Dad looking down and my mother and I, love filling his eyes. I felt tears slip down my cheeks as I realised how long ago that life felt, rage also bubbled up from a deep dark place within me. I would have my revenge when the time came, Harvey would pay and justice would be achieved.

A knock on my door brought me out of my deep thought and I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and placing the mask over them before calling for the person to enter. Tim opened the door and paused staring at me oddly before his eyes scanned my room, finally resting on the clipping, a look of understanding came over him, like he knew my pain. Finally he spoke, "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded, noticing finally that he had adorned his Red Robin costume but the hood was currently down. I followed him down to the cave and he finally stopped and grinned at me, "up for a ride on the batcycle?" he asked me and my eyes lit up immediately. I had always had a thing for motorbikes and had constantly admired the batcycle from a distance, secretly wanting to give it a spin.

"Please tell me I can drive" I gushed and ran over to it, jumping straight on it and Tim laughed hopping on behind me.

"How could I refuse you" He laughed and the leaned forward to press a button to open the exit to the cave. I felt his tight muscles against my back and blushed a little.

I started the bike up and smiled as I heard the delightful hum of the engine and I sped out the cave at extremely illegal speeds. It was amazing.

The cool night air whipped in my face and the moon was high above us, It was delightful just to get out of the manor. Finally I turned into Crime Alley and we parked in a dark corner, putting cloak mode on and I turned to Tim, grinning widely.

"That was amazing, don't you think?" I said happily, grabbing my grappling hook, courtesy of Bruce from my belt and turning to Tim.

"For you maybe, I got whipped in the face by your hair for the past 15 minutes." He laughed as I looked a little sheepish.

We used our grappling hooks to get to the top of the nearest building and I took a deep breath of the cool night air, relishing the thought of the night ahead and then turned to Red Robin. "Okay, so what now?" I asked happily.

AN: :) Please review, they make me so happy and eager to write. Also do you guys think Tim likes Violet at all… could something happen there? Opinions… I need them, in the mean time I'll try to write another chapter quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Okay so I think I know what I'm doing with this story… sort of… *Bangs head on desk*… not really. I'll start some major planning and from the past reviews I think I know what direction to go with Violet :) Enjoy!**

We sat on top of one of the tallest building in Crime Alley, the faint sound of sirens blazing filled the silence. We had had a fairly busy patrol, our work would never be finished in Crime Alley but for now Tim and I sat enjoying the view of Gotham from our high vantage point.

"You never ended up telling me how you ended up with Jason, Vee." Tim said as he turned his intelligent blue eyes to stare at me. I was silent for a time before replying softly;

"I haven't really talked about it… since that night, I guess I've been avoiding it… hoping it will hurt less if I don't think about it." I knew in my heart that this was untrue and childish but it was all I had to protect myself.

"It's not stupid to do that, but I know from personal experience that it also doesn't help, what can help is actually talking about it." Tim was using a gentle tone; however, I was glad to see there was no sign of any form of pity in his eyes.

I ran my fingers through my hair, thinking back to that night I had locked in the depths of my memories and looked at Tim. I hadn't even talked to Jason about this, I mean the guy had enough problems without mine on top of them. I was pondering if I should tell Tim, if I should confide in him those memories of that horrifying night or if I should just let it be. But before I could I heard a thud on the roof behind us and we both jumped up and turned to see Jason, the Red Hood standing there. I shoved all those awful thoughts aside and smiled, happy to see him.

"Jason, how'd it go?" I asked him and he took off his mask, revealing his face, covered only by a blood red domino mask.

"Perfectly, the case is closed, those guys aren't capable of dealing drugs at schools in the state they're in now." Jason smirked, happy with the job he'd done.

Tim snorted, apparently he didn't agree with Jason's methods, none of the Bat family did, I really didn't understand how they couldn't use a more permanent solution to people like the Joker and Two-Face. Did they not understand that no matter how many times they locked them up in Arkham, they would always end up escaping and killing more innocents, leaving more orphans like us. I guess you couldn't be trained by the Red Hood without at least agreeing to his methods.

I smiled and walked over to him, "We had a fairly productive night as well, it was a little weird having to use a staff but Tim wouldn't let me use my guns." I saw Tim furrow his brow at my comment, he wasn't exactly happy that I shared Jason's opinion on dealing with criminals. Jason raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"Are you ready? I wanted to go back to the manor and grab your stuff so we could go back to my apartment." I nodded; I knew that as soon as I proved that I was ready to go back into the field, Jason would want to move out as soon as possible, I would be lying if I said I wanted to stay at the manor but I think I would miss my spats that I had with Damian and the talks I had with Tim.

"Tonight?" Tim asked, surprise mixed with disappointment filled his features and I nodded sadly.

"It's probably best this way anyway Tim." I said and it was true, I knew that it gave Jason great discomfort and brought up some rough memories for him so it'd be good to get back to the old apartment.

"Come on Vee, let's go." Jason said, obviously eager to get away from Drake and so I complied for his sake. I walked over to Tim, surprising him with a hug which he returned, squeezing me tight.

"Come on patrol with me now and then, we make a good team." Said Tim, smiling sadly and I felt my stomach flutter as his deep blue eyes stared into my own.

"Of course, when I can." I replied, smiling and turning to join Jason, we made our way back to the Wayne manor on Jason's motor bike as I didn't want to leave Tim without a way back home. I ran upstairs to gather my things while Jason stayed down in the cave to wait for me. It didn't take long for me to get my few belongings together, my fingers lingering on the newspaper clipping, I folded it carefully putting it inside a book I had. Not bothering to get changed out of my uniform I exited my room and while I made my way down the stairs I found Damian.

He stared at me and his eyes flicked towards my bag on my back, realisation dawning in his eyes, he almost looked disappointed if I wasn't mistaken. "I take it that you're leaving?" He asked nonchalantly. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll be glad to have me out of the house." I said smirking a little remembering the many pranks Tim and I had played on him. Damian frowned and avoided eye contact with me.

"You can come back I suppose, you're bearable and I need someone to spar with that is close to my level." Damian muttered and I was stunned, the kid didn't actually hate me too much.

"You got it Damian." I smiled and then continued my way down to the cave where I found Jason and Bruce talking. I didn't hear what they said but Jason looked furious and Bruce was scowling. When they noticed my presence Jason looked a little relieved.

"Come on Violet; let's just get out of here." He said turning away from Bruce and hopping on to his motorbike. I hopped on before him, hugging his waist as we drove away from the Wayne manor, away from Jason's past home.

**AN: Two chapters in two nights! I have just really wanted to write this lately even if it has been distracting me from my school work quite a bit :) Anyway give me your thoughts please!**


	6. Chapter 6

_I was in my old room in my apartment when I heard a knock on my bedroom door, frowning I walked over to open it. Two Face stood in front of me, grinning, dark red blood covering the suit he wore, a gun in his hand. I screamed in horror and fell back onto the ground only to feel myself land in something wet. I looked to see it was a puddle of warm, thick blood. And it was coming from the bullet wounds in my parent's chests who lay next to me._

"_NO!" I yelled. "NO THEY CAN'T BE DEAD!" Tears flowed freely down my cheeks as I stared at the pale flesh of my mother and father._

_I looked back to where Two face had stood only to see the Joker standing in his place, laughing maniacally. My eyes widened when I saw he held a crowbar in his hands. "You won't get away with this, the Red Hood will kill you." I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. The Joker's grin only widened when I said this._

"_How can Hoody help you when he's already dead?" giggled the Joker, gesturing over to Jason's limp body that now lay next to my parents. _

"_NO! PLEASE GOD NO!" I sobbed, lunging over to his body, trying to find a pulse in a vein attempt. I turned back to the Joker who currently stood over me._

"_Now, now don't cry this is going to be fun….for me" He laughed and he swung the crowbar hard at me._

"STOP!" I screamed and sat up in my bed, gasping for air and tears were pouring down my cheeks. I was covered in sweat. The nightmare had felt all too real. "It was only a nightmare" I whispered to myself, trying to calm down. Jason slammed the door open so hard I thought it might break off it's hinged. He stood there, guns in his hands, searching for some intruder. He only wore boxer shorts, his perfectly sculpted chest was bare and I found it hard to tear my eyes away from it to look up at his face. His black hair was all messy from sleep but his blue eyes were awake and alert.

"What happened?" He demanded harshly, when he had decided there was no immediate danger he focused his attention on me. I shrunk back under his steady gaze which seemed to soften when he looked me over, noticing the tears.

"Nothing," I said timidly "It was just a-"

"Nightmare?" He guessed and I nodded, turning my face away, ashamed of how weak I appeared. He walked over to me and placed his guns on my bedside table and then sat on the bed next to me. "It happens to the best of us… there is no way of escaping the horrors we have seen without some internal damage," He sighed "I… I can't go a night without dreaming about waking up in that awful coffin in the ground… I felt so… scared and alone" His eyes looked distant and I could not imagine the fear he had felt, one of my biggest fears was being buried alive.

"What happened to you?" I whispered, Jason had not talked much about his past before, never had he opened up to me.

"To put it simply, I was a street kid who batman picked up and taught the ropes, then I got stupid, trusted those I shouldn't have and got myself killed. Next thing I know, I wake up in my own grave, Bruce had moved on and the bastard who had murdered me was still fucking alive. Bruce didn't even care about me enough to get vengeance." Jason's fists were clench and there was anger in his eyes but also a hint of sorrow. He would have felt so betrayed, so alone. I hesitated for a moment as silence filled the room, only the soft police sirens could be heard in the distance. Then the next thing I knew, I reached over and hugged him, his body became ridged but then softened and his arms wrapped around me.

Eventually I pulled back to look at him, "I'm with you no matter what." I said, his face was so close and his bright blue eyes which were looking directly into mine. Suddenly he kissed me, my eyes widened with surprise but I quickly relaxed, closing then and putting my arms around his neck. I kissed him deeply and pulled him closer. My heart was beating fast and I quickly forgot about my nightmare, my thoughts were only of Jason. He pulled back finally and a crooked smile spread across his face causing butterflies to flutter in my stomach.

"God you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that." Jason said quietly and I gave a small smile, my hand was now placed on his bare chest, being close to him. I hadn't realised how much I wanted this until now. Jason made a move to stand up but I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards me.

"Not yet." I whispered to him and kissed him deeply again and I felt his hands grab the hem of my tank top and pull it over my head, I pushed him back on the bed so I lay on top of him. His hands moved to undo the bra I still had on and hadn't bothered to taken off when we heard a noise from the doorway.

We both stood up quickly, Jason grabbing his guns, cocking them and aiming them at the door but then sighed at put his arms down. "What the fuck guys, you have the worst timing in the world." I frowned and looked closely at the two people who stood in the door way. There stood a man with red hair and a quiver of arrows on his back next to an extremely beautiful woman who had long red hair and orange skin, her green eyes stared curiously at me, I felt exposed standing there in just a bra and cotton shorts.

"Care to introduce us." Asked the man, a smirk appeared on his face as he looked me over, I unconsciously moved my hand to cover a rather ugly scar on my stomach from my encounter with the Joker.

Jason sighed and tossed me my shirt which I quickly put on. "Violet, this is Roy and Kori…my ah…occasional teammates."

"So…it seems we've missed something while we've been away." Said Roy turning to Jason who then ushered them into the lounge.

I stood there a little disappointed and very confused; I quickly followed them out to the lounge to get answers.

**AN: Sorry it took so long to write this chapter, my life has been crazy. I promise I'll try and write more frequently. Anyway please review! :) **


	7. Chapter 7

"So why are you guys here." Jason asked bluntly as I sat on the couch, staring at Kori, she had such strange coloured skin and eyes but was still unbelievably beautiful. She stood by Roy who looked slightly insulted.

"Do I need a reason to drop by my best friend's house?" exclaimed Roy and after a long uncomfortable silence he added, "Alright we need help with a job." A sheepish grin came to his face as he looked at Jason, whom stood by the couch I was on, a frown on his face as he contemplated the idea.

"Okay, I'll bite, what job is it?" Jason sighed. Roy's face lit up immediately and Kori smiled slightly, she had turned to me now and was staring at me, I could feel her looking me up and down, judging me and it made me feel slightly exposed so I turned to face Roy who hesitated, looking over at me and then looked at Jason whom just nodded and this seemed to be enough for Roy who began explain the job.

"My sources gave me information that there is going to be a massive shipping of weapons down at the dock, a lot of the big timers are going to be involved, namely Black Mask and a few others. But its huge and it needs to be stopped before they wreak havoc in this city." While Roy was speaking he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer from the fridge which made Jason glare at him although he ignored it.

I frowned at this explanation, it didn't make sense for Roy to want to take down such a big operation in the Batman's home city so I piped up and said; "You forgot the fact that Batman's got a constant eye on the docks, by the way you're talking about this he's got to already know." Roy seemed to really look at me for the first time now; he seemed to come to the realisation that I wasn't some girl who Jason had just taken home for some one night stand. He looked me up and down, apparently now noticing all the scars that covered my bare flesh and curiosity appeared in his bright green eyes.

"Who are you?" Kori asked before Roy got the chance, she had not removed her eyes from me and I sat up straighter under both their gazes, I looked up to Jason who nodded silently at me and I looked back at the others.

"My name's Violet, Jason's been training me for almost a year now, after some unfortunate events." Roy raised her eyebrows at me and then looked towards Jason solemnly.

"It seems all our lives have been born from…unfortunate events." Roy muttered, looking distance as if thinking back to some past memories. An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group and I looked at the ground trying to force back the memories of the recent nightmare.

Jason coughed awkwardly, "Getting back on topic, what Vee said does make sense, why not just let the Bat handle all this?" I could tell Jason really didn't like to admit that he would refuse a case because Batman had it covered but it made sense, if they were both there then the end result would be quite messy.

Kori was the one who spoke up this time, her bright eyes finally focussing on Jason, "Our intel also told us that there were people in place to keep Batman busy tomorrow night, it seems like it is up to us." Jason's mouth moved into a crooked smile,

"So that means all the more action for us." He said happily, "So if its tomorrow night that this is going down we've got some preparations to do, Vee if you could be so kind, I've got some new AK-47's out the back I've been dying to try out."

I nodded and hurried out the back to the room where we stored our weapons, there was probably over one hundred or more different types of guns stored in the room and Jason had taught me how to use every one of them. I heard the faint voices of the others talking over the plan for tomorrow, they were eager for this and frankly so was I. I was thirsty for some action, I craved it. Hearing how big this deal was I hoped that Two-Face would show up, there was a large possibility that he would and I knew that if I found him, I would make him pay for what he has done, for the people he has hurt. There was no damn way I would let him walk away with his life because if he did I would have failed myself and my parents.

I found Jason's guns and walked back into the lounge, placing them on the table along with the ammo. I was quite tired but there was no way I was going back to sleep, looking over at Jason and the others, I didn't feel as if I would be much help in the planning of this mission so I decided to get some fresh air. I climbed outside, onto the fire escape and made my way up to the roof. I sat on the edge, legs dangling over the alley below, the cool night air felt refreshing. The constant sound of sirens had become oddly calming to me over the last few nights, it was nice and familiar. The lights of Gotham were like a Christmas tree, I enjoyed looking at them and this roof had an excellent view. I spent a lot of time up on this roof, it was a great place to think and relax, escaping the reality of what my life had become. I knew that my parents would not be happy with what I chose to do with my life but all that mattered to me was getting justice for them. They deserved better than what they got.

"Aren't you cold?" A familiar voice called to me and I jumped, surprised, I hadn't heard anyone join me on the roof top. I smiled when I realised who it was and replied not even bothering to look back,

"I never seem to feel the cold and besides, the breeze feels so refreshing." I turned to see Tim, in his Red Robin costume sit next to me.

"I see you've got visitors, I'm guessing it's not just a social visit, you want to tell me what there up to?" Tim inquired curiously, looking at me and I rolled his eyes at him,

"Sorry to spoil your fun but they really are just dropping in to say hello, Jason does actually have some good friends you know." I lied, there was no way I was letting slip about the weapons shipment, it could be my chance to find Two-Face and there was no way I was letting that get away from me. I could sense Tim frowning at me but I refused to meet his gaze.

"Come on Violet, this is nothing to be lying about, if something is about to go down in Gotham, Batman and I need to know." I raised my eyebrows at him and shook my head,

"I'm not lying Red Robin. Just believe me…please." I asked and Tim stared at me silently for a moment before finally sighing and nodding his head,

"Fine… Well, it's nice to seeing you again anyway, I wish I could stay but…you know." He added quietly and I nodded sadly. I knew that we wouldn't be able to stay close now I was out of the Wayne Manor, it was like we were on opposing sides. It made me sad, I had the urge to tell him to stay so we could talk longer but all that came out was,

"Goodbye." Tim nodded and gave a wave before disappearing into the dark shadows of a near by building. I breathed out slowly, shakily. I knew that I had Jason whom I cared for deeply but never in my life had I felt so alone. So disconnected.

I stayed on the rooftop for about two hours more before Jason came up to find me, he silently sat next to me, staring at the horizon as the sun began to rise. Finally I turned to him and found his eyes meeting mine. He pulled me into a deep kiss which I relished. Warmth flooded through me and I eagerly kissed back. Finally he pulled back.

"You better get some sleep, it's going to be a tough mission tonight." He said softy and I nodded, realising how tired I felt. It was going to be a very long night indeed.


	8. Chapter 8

My music played faintly from my speakers as I pulled on my dark cargo pants and black shirt, I always prepared for a mission better when I listened to my music, it helped me concentrate. I secured my hooded cape next; it was much like Damian's except it was coloured black in place of his yellow. My twin pistols fit securely in the holsters on my upper thighs and I ran my fingers over the familiar cool metal which I had fought with so often. Finally I pulled my mask out from my bedside table and covered my eyes, I had always been worried that wearing a mask would impair my vision but that wasn't the case. I smiled slightly as I relished in the anticipation of this mission, I was sick of all the small time jobs we had been doing. I needed a challenge.

"Ready?" Jason asked, poking his head around my door, not even bothering to knock, I nodded, walking towards him, he wore his blood red domino mask and carried his red hood in his right hand. He surprised me by pulling me into a deep kiss and when he finally pulled back he wore his crooked smile that I loved so much. "This is going to be fun" he said cheerfully and I followed him into the lounge room where Roy and Kori were. Roy was dressed in all red, including his bow and all of his arrows, I did however, find it strange that he still wore his cap on his head but I didn't question it. I had to do a double take on Kori who seemed to be wearing next to nothing, only an outfit that slightly resembled a purple bikini.

Roy who had been studying one of his red arrows replaced it back in his quiver, seemingly satisfied. "Let's head out." He said simply and we all followed him downstairs where he had parked his motorcycle next to Jason's. I looked around for Kori but I couldn't see her, I felt Jason tap on my shoulder and when I looked at him he pointed up and I saw she was flying about ten meters above us.

"Holy crap." I murmured and I heard Jason laugh faintly at my astonishment. I quickly got on behind Jason on his motorbike and held on tight as we sped off towards the dock. My cape and hair flew wildly in the wind, I leant forward, my face slightly touching the cool metal of Jason's helmet. I noticed while we rode there were many police cars speeding in the opposite direction to us, too preoccupied to deal with two speeding motorcycles. I remembered Roy mentioning the distraction the criminals had organised; I didn't even want to know what they had done.

When we finally arrived at the docks, Jason silently directed us to different places where we were to stay to await further orders from him with our communicator earpieces. I stealthily found my way up a nearby shipping container, whilst sticking to the shadows and got into a position where I could clearly see the large group of people surrounded by crates. Roy wasn't lying this was a huge shipment and a lot of people were involved. Of course Black Mask was at the centre of it yelling at everyone. I smiled, hopefully I'd get a chance to punch the bastards face in. "Hold your positions everyone; I'd like to see if anyone else is showing up before we make our move." I heard Jason say, I could faintly see his outline in the shadows nearby.

Lighting lit up the sky above, followed by the sound of thunder, I groaned silently, it was going to rain soon, I always had the worst of luck. I stood quietly on the roof for a further half an hour before Roy's voice broke the silence. "Heads up guys, there's some more cars coming in." Sure enough three more black cars drove into the area. I looked over at Black Mask who had stopped yelling and was now staring intently at the cars, whoever had just arrived was important. I watched closely as the door opened and my breath caught in my throat. It was Two-Face. Rage swelled up in me as I saw my parent's murderer for the first time since there death. Without thinking I drew out my pistols and made a move to get down from the shipping container. Suddenly Jason's voice rang in my voice loudly.

"Midnight, do not leave your position. You'll get your chance, stay put." I froze for a moment and looked over to where Jason stood. I could feel him staring at me intently, watching me. I glared back at him even though there was no way he could see my face.

"Hurry," I growled menacingly, "before I go down there and blow that son of a bitch's brains out." I cocked my guns and tensed my body in anticipation; I was going to get my revenge tonight. I could finally kill the man who destroyed all the happiness I had known. Jason took my threat seriously as he immediately started issuing orders to us but I wasn't listening, I no longer cared.

There was a massive explosion as Roy fired an arrow which hit a nearby gas cylinder and the whole area turned to chaos. Kori swooped down from her place in the sky, setting fire to the crates which held the weapons whilst Jason and Roy took out as many men as they could from their vantage points. They had made sure to burst all the cars tires so they could not drive away. My eyes spotted Harvey Dent make a cowardly run for it, away from the action and without thinking I pursued, despite Jason yelling in my ear. I tore out the earpiece as I chased after Two-Face.

I jumped off the crate, ignoring the pain that shot through my legs as I hit the ground, I broke into a sprint in the direction of Two-Face. All other thoughts were vacant from my mind, all I could think of was putting a bullet through his head. My grip tightened on my gun as I caught up to him. I aimed carefully and shot my gun. He immediately yelled out and fell down, clutching his right leg, cursing loudly. I stopped right in front of him, glaring at him as he finally noticed my presence; there was no fear in his eyes, only amusement.

"You're just another caped crusader, wanting justice. You're pathetic." He said through gritted teeth. I couldn't help myself; I kicked him in his injured leg. Hard. He cried out and clutched the leg close to his chest. "You won't kill me, all of you masks are cowards." He growled at me.

"Shut up!" I cried, both anger and anguish came through in my voice. "I don't follow the _hero_ code, I _will_ kill you for what you've done, for those you've killed you fucking bastard." I held the gun aimed at him, no matter what I said, however, Two-Face stayed relatively composed which made me angry. He should be begging for his life, asking for mercy, repenting! Instead he provoked me, mocked me. Rage took over me again and I shot his knee cap, he cried out and blood pooled under him. He was unable to talk through the pain now and I smiled, feeling some sick smugness out of this.

I raised my gun finally towards his head, the images of my parents being shot, them falling, blood pouring from their chests, the lifelessness of their eyes, the smile on Harvey Dent's face and then the flames that consumed my house. It was his entire fault, if it wasn't for him I would still have my family, I wouldn't be alone, I would be happy. I cocked the pistol in my right hand, it was shaking, from adrenaline or grief, I didn't know. My finger pressed lightly on the trigger, about to pull the trigger when I heard a yell behind me.

"Stop!" I had been so absorbed in Two-Face I hadn't noticed them approach. I didn't move, but I also didn't pull the trigger. I did, however, see Red Robin in the corner of my eye.

"Don't get any closer." I tried to sound menacing but my voice cracked. Tim obliged and stayed where he was, I could see from the corner of my eye that he had an extremely troubled look on his face. "Why are you here?" I muttered finally after a silence.

"I knew you were lying, I came to see what you were up too… just put down the gun… you don't want to kill him." Tim said watching me carefully.

"Yes I do!" I sobbed, tears finally falling down my cheeks. "He killed them! He killed them right in front of me! I'll never get them back… he's the reason I'm all alone!" The grief and anger that I'd hidden deep inside myself flooded to the surface. I had tried to forget about it, push the emotions away for almost a year to focus on my training but now I couldn't hold it back anymore.

"Midnight, I know how you feel, believe me but this kind of revenge won't help, it won't fill the void in you, it'll just make things worse, make you full of hate. Don't pull that trigger, if you do, then there's no going back. I'm here for you. Just put the gun down" He sounded kind of desperate, trying to stay calm. My hand began to shake even more, I was conflicted. Here in front of me was the man who had destroyed everything, why shouldn't he die. Why hadn't I pulled the trigger?

"He needs to die." I muttered, tears poured from my eyes blurring my vision, my chest felt tight as if the world were weighing down on it.

"He needs to be punished," Tim said softly, "but not like this, if you do this he wins."

There was a long drawn out silence, Two-face had passed out from both pain and blood loss. Tim stood beside me, waiting. I dropped the gun and fell to my knees, sobbing. I couldn't do it, I was a coward. I was vaguely aware of Tim embracing me, whispering words of comfort but I didn't hear them. I heard Jason call my name distantly and then he was there, next to me, pushing Tim away and trying to talk to me, when I didn't reply, he too held me there. My fingers gripped tightly into his familiar leather jacket, finding some comfort. He lifted me up and I saw Tim following.

"Let me come with her." He demanded as Jason glared at him.

"No way in hell", he growled but Tim stood his ground, still following us.

"Either you let me come with you or I come without your permission anyway." Tim said stubbornly and Jason stopped for a moment, and had a stare down with Tim. Finally he reluctantly nodded. "Thanks." I heard Tim mutter before I fainted in Jason's arms, falling in the welcoming arms of the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I am so so so very sorry this took so long to come out! I just finished school for the year so I had so many exams to complete and just no time to write, but good news is I'm on holidays now so I'll have all the time in the world to write, so enjoy! And please review!**

I woke with a start, sitting upright in my bed, memories flooded through me and my fists balled up in anger at my own cowardice. I had shot people before, sure, the first few times it had been difficult but after a while, like Jason, I usually didn't care because the criminals were scum and would cause more harm if they were alive. But not with Two-Face. I had frozen, I had let my mask of confidence slip for a moment and I had lost my cool. It was disgusting. Maybe it was because I faced the man whom had driven me, my reason for living, to kill him, to make him pay and it had occurred to me that after he was dead I would be lost with no path to follow. And that terrified me.

I looked at the door to the lounge and shook my head; I didn't want to face Jason right now, not after I'd looked so weak in front of him. I noticed that I was still wearing my costume, except my mask and cape which lay on my desk nearby, after I quickly but them on I silently opened my window and walked onto the fire escape, letting the cool night air hit my face, I frowned, either I had only slept a short time or far too long. I climbed onto the roof of the apartment the night sky was clear though there were no stars; there were never any stars in Gotham city.

Although my legs felt heavy I began to run across the rooftops, trying to clear my head, my hair whipped in the cool night air however not even this could remove that horrible feelings that were going through my head. Anger. Shame. Regret. I felt overwhelmed. I ran until I my legs were burning and I had to stop. I leant down trying to catch my breath. After a few minutes the burning sensation in my lungs left me and I stood there staring out over crime alley. The noise of sirens was loud in my ears and I sighed and continued to run until I spotted a particularly shady man hanging around an alley way. I managed to get a good look at his face and pulled out my mobile flicking through images. Just as I thought, I found his image there for one of the wanted criminals that had been last spotted in this area, looking at his record he had committed countless rapes and a few murders. Anger bubbled up within myself to see this man freely walking around no doubt waiting for his next victim.

I stealthily made my way to the ground behind him, standing in the shadows. The man wore a huge trench coat; he was flipping a small pocket knife around in his right hand, oblivious to my presence. He had quite a large build and without the harsh training I had received there would be no possible way for me to take him down. I could feel my emotions getting the better of me, I should have had more self-control. I snuck up behind him and kicked his legs in a spot which instantly sent him sprawling to the ground, swearing as he went. I kicked him in the chest winding him in one smooth motion I had him pinned down with my gun to his temple. His eyes had widened with surprised but to his credit he regained his composure rather quickly and glared at me.

"Your one of those fucking masked vigilante types; you don't scare me I know for a fact that your code prevents you from killing me." He growled and then spat at my face, fury was bursting in my chest.

"Pity I work with the Red Hood. No rules apply where I come from, nothing to protect scum like you." I said through clenched teeth, pressing the gun harder into his temple. A look of realisation flickered in the man's eyes followed by panic. Surprising me he lashed out with the knife still in his hand, the knife went through my shoulder and I cried out, pulling back. He used this opportunity to push me off him and start running. I bit my lip, fighting through the pain that clouded my mind and raised the gun in my hand to his fleeing figure. Without blinking I pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gun firing drowned out the sirens in the city; he died instantly, a clean kill. I was on my knees doubling over in pain from the knife sticking out of my shoulder. I yanked the blade out quickly, crying out as it was removed and pressed my hand against the wound, applying pressure. Luckily enough it didn't hit anything important, namely my lung, there was no way I was going to have another collapsed lung again, not fun. Definitely not fun.

"Seriously Midnight? What the hell is this mess?" I heard a familiar voice call to me in a harsh tone and I turned towards a short figure standing in the shadows, his hood up. Damian Wayne stood in front of me, a scowl on his face as he approached me. He pushed my hand out of the way examining my wound, he removed a bandage from his utility belt and put it on me, his fingers moved fast with precision, he'd done this a thousand times before.

"It's going to need stiches so I'd get back to Todd as soon as you can." He said dismissively as I stood up, grimacing at the pain shooting through my shoulder. I looked at back at Damian who was staring at the body at the edge of the alley with disgust in his eyes. He didn't like the fact I killed him but I wasn't going to bring it up and start a fight with the boy who helped me.

I frowned, "Crap, I don't want Jason to know I went out, he's going to kill me if I go back like this." I grimaced at the thought of him giving me a lecture on my carelessness. Damian looked at me for a moment, examining me and then seemingly coming to a conclusion he said;

"Well do you think you can at least get to the roof cause I don't want to stick around in this alleyway with that" he muttered pointing his finger towards the body behind me. I nodded and used my grappling hook to quickly get up to the rooftop where Damian was waiting, pulling several items from his utility belt, including a needle and thread.

"Tell me the truth…do I just suck at this job?" I muttered as he applied pain killers with a syringe and removed his gloves before started to sew up my wound. I saw Damian roll his eyes at me and he was silent for a while as he concentrated on the needle and thread, I felt the tugging at my skin and tried to ignore it. Finally he said;

"I'll deny it if you ever tell anyone I said this but you're skilled Violet, you're good at this… its just you haven't seemed to have much luck, I mean having to face the Joker on one of your first missions? That's rough…Father gets super strict when he is loose, it's hard to even convince him to let me go out on patrol." His brow furrowed in annoyance at this, even though Damian was physically a child, he had the mental state of an adult and as such he detested being treated as a child.

"Thanks" I muttered quietly as he tied off the thread, Damian looked at me, analysing me for a moment before saying;

"Tt, You'll never get better than me though, that's just impossible." And with that he disappeared into the darkness. I stood there for a moment staring after him. Did the demon child seriously just encourage me or was I just high off pain meds. I gave a short bark of laughter before making my way back to Jason's apartment block. The sun was beginning to rise on the horizon and I hurried my pace, I hated being out in my costume during daylight hours, it made me feel vulnerable; there was hardly any darkness for cover.

Finally I made it back to the apartment; I climbed silently through my window just as the pain medication wore off and my shoulder started throbbing again. I tossed my mask and guns on my table and removed my cape. I took off my torn black t-shirt and threw it aside, happy that I had plenty of shirts to replace it and put on a dark green shirt and shorts. I quickly did my hair up into a messy bun before walking into the lounge.

Tim was fast asleep on the couch, his hair tousled from sleep, he looked quite peaceful, I quietly walked past Jason's bedroom door which was open. Jason was already up doing push ups as he did practically every morning. I stood in the doorway, admiring his perfectly sculpted bare chest. When he noticed me, he stood up and came over.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, frowning with concern his hand reach up to gently hold my chin, "You look really pale." I realised that all the overwhelming emotions that had filled me earlier were gone, my early morning adventure had left me clear headed.

"Fine actually, a little pissed at myself but other than that, totally fine." Jason nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer. He understood, he knew that last thing I wanted to do was talk about the previous night and so he let me be. Jason, I knew had a lot that he kept hidden from me, memories of pain and anguish but I knew that if I probed him for answers then it would only cause him pain.

"Don't worry, those moment…they happen to the best of us." He said encouragingly and I nodded and leaned up, kissing him lightly on the lips. I forced a small smile before we walked to the kitchen and Jason decided to cook us some breakfast so I sat at the table to keep him company. I started flipping my knife around in my hand but stopped after a moment as it made me all too aware of the sharp pain shooting threw my shoulder.

"So where are Roy and Kori?" I asked curiously, noticing their absence from the apartment, it seemed that it was only Tim, Jason and I here.

"Around Gotham, somewhere, I didn't want them staying here, they tend to get a little loud when left in a bedroom alone together." My eyes widened in surprised and I felt my cheeks go red and Jason laughed at me.

"Shut up!" I yelled playfully, finally breaking into a smile, I was being stupid getting embarrassed at that and then Jason stopped laughing and stared at me, studying me. "What?" I asked sceptically.

"That's the first time I've seen you genuinely smile in a while is all." He said softly moving over to where I sat and placed a plate of breakfast in front of me before gently grabbing my chin and kissing me, his lips were soft and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. It seemed like we were the only too people in the world. Suddenly I heard a cough break the silence and I broke away from Jason and turned around to see Tim standing in the doorway awkwardly.

"Morning." He grumbled, leaning on the doorframe, not seeming comfortable enough in the presence of Jason to sit down and lower his guard. Jason glared at him before adding;

"You'll be leaving soon?" He posed it as a question but Tim knew it was more of a statement so he nodded in response, avoiding both of us with his eye contact. For some reason I felt guilty for kissing Jason in front of him but I pushed that feeling aside.

"So soon? But you just woke up." I said to Tim, ignoring a look that Jason shot my way and Tim finally looked over at me.

"I have to. I have my own missions to attend to so I'll be go-"he stopped suddenly and stared at me, a concerned frown appearing on his face. "is that blood?" he asked, pointing to my shoulder.

"Shit" I said involuntarily, realising blood has seeped through my shirt and before I could do anything he had walked forward and pulled my shirt down from the collar to see the wound and he grimaced.

"Vee that's freshly stitched. What the hell happened?" demanded Tim as Jason came over to stand next to him.

"I went for a walk?" I tried but they both scowled at me so I continued, "and there happened to be a bad man with a knife?" Jason slapped his palm on his forehead.

"For gods sake Violet, you went out alone? You know you shouldn't do that and of course you went and got hurt, again! When the hell were you going to tell me about this?" he barked, annoyance filling his voice but there was also a hint of concern. For some weird reason I felt rather defensive so I shot back;

"You're not my parent Jase, you can't tell me what to do! I felt like crap when I woke up so I went for a run and did something stupid so shut up and get over it." I could feel my earlier emotions take hold of me again and I was angry both at Jason and myself.

"Guys-" Tim tried to interject but we both yelled in unison;

"Shut up Tim!" and he raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. Jason looked back at me, his arms folded.

"I may not be your parent but I'm in charge of you so you need to listen to me." He said to me sternly and I felt annoyance go threw me.

"Yea you're right! You're not my parent because they're both dead! I watched them die right in front of me when Two-Face murdered them before burning their corpses!" I yelled, my voice cracked halfway through the sentence and I saw Jason's face slacken and sadness flicker through his eyes. Tim also reached for my shoulder but I shook him away. I stormed over to the couch, sitting down, putting my hands on my face, trying to control the emotions that threatened to overwhelm me. I heard Tim and Jason arguing from the kitchen but I didn't catch what they were saying.

Finally Tim came in and knelt near me and said in a gentle tone, "Violet, I really hate to say this but Jason is right, you need to be careful when you go out, it's all too easy to slip up and die, so many already have. But you-" He paused when an urgent buzzing noise came from his belt, "one sec," he said as he pulled out a communicator and his face darkened.

"What is it?" I asked, never having seen him look quite this concerned.

"Jason!" He called and Jason sauntered into the room, "I think we're going to need your help" he said, not taking his eyes away from the device, "There's been a mass break-out at Arkham, all the top security convicts have escaped.

There was a moment of silence before I finally piped up; "Well no better way to get our emotions out than to beat up some baddies." Jason looked at me for a moment and shook his head, laughing softly.

"Fine. Let's go." The Red Hood said finally.


	10. Chapter 10

In less than half an hour all three of us stood atop Wayne Tower, waiting for conformation from Alfred as to our target. The sound and sights of police cars and ambulances lit up the sky and I felt adrenaline pump through me. Earlier Tim had surprised me with a gift from Batman himself, a Kevlar reinforced outfit similar to my own, the cape felt a little heavier but not enough to affect my balance and to my surprise he also gave me my own dark purple utility belt. When I had questioned the Batman's sudden change of heart, Tim had merely said that although he didn't like the fact that I was out in the field, he didn't want me to be more vulnerable than I needed to be. I raised my eyebrow at that but said nothing, ultimately happy to receive the gift. Jason checked his pistols again, it was clear that he was eager to join the fight like the rest of us.

Suddenly Tim stiffened and placed one finger to his communicator, listening intently. "Understood, good luck at there Batman. Red Robin out." He turned to us, "Okay so due to the fact there is so many villains on the run, we're all spread a bit thin so we have all been allocated one villain. Red Hood, Victor Fries has been located by the east harbor, Midnight, Harley Quinn has hijacked a train which will be at Central Station in about twenty minutes, Batman has assured me that the Joker is elsewhere and Nightwing and Batgirl are working on taking him down."

Jason grinned, "I've been itching to fight Fries ever since I took down that assassin from the court of owls." He took out his grappling hook and walked over to me, pulling me into a kiss, I embraced him tightly, enjoying the feel of his lips on mine. Finally he pulled back and whispered, "Be careful, I want to continue this later." He winked at me with a crooked smile on his face and then he jumped off the tower, heading towards the harbour.

I turned back towards Tim who was staring at me and in the silence I remembered to ask, "Who have you been allocated?" Tim hesitated and studied me for a moment before finally stating, "Two-Face." We both stared at each other for a moment before I reluctantly nodded; a tightness rising in my chest, knowing that after all we went through to get that bastard in jail had all been for naught made me furious. But I couldn't let myself dwell on that, I had a job to do and if I abandoned it, people would die, so I simply nodded and jumped off the building, letting myself fall for a moment before using my grappling hook to propel me towards Central Station. On my way there I spotted Huntress fighting Killer Croc, I admired her fluid movements as she dodged his on-coming blows, maybe one day I would pay her a visit and ask for some fighting tips.

Finally I arrived at Central Station, I looked up at the clock, I still had five minutes to prepare. Looking around I found a high vantage point to perch myself upon, I was fully aware that there was a possibility that the train wouldn't stop and I would have to launch myself onto the moving vehicle, not my favourite pastime, but it would have to do. I looked through my utility belt until I found a strong magnet with a handle connected to it, this would allow me to stick to the top of the train when I hit it.

Finally after five minutes exactly I heard the sound of the oncoming train and I crouched, preparing to jump, as soon as the train passed where I was I launched myself on top of the train. I grunted as I made impact with it but gave myself a mental high-five that I hadn't just slid right off. After a moment I slowly forced myself to stand, glad that the tunnel allowed that and swung myself down so that I could see inside the train but also remain in the shadows. Luckily enough the first carriage I looked in was the one with Harley in. My stomach twisted into a knot as I saw the man who lay dead on one of the seats. There was at least thirty people in the carriage and Harley stood in the centre of them all with a massive smile on her face which caused she held an AK-47, she had taken all the valuables off of the passengers, but it appeared that the reason they all remained alive was that she wanted to ransom the off for more money. Rage bubbled within myself and I noticed as I looked across in the carriage that a girl around my age was staring at me, she looked terrified. I smiled slightly, winking, trying to give her some comfort. I think I saw a spark of hope flicker in her eyes which was replaced with fear as her eyes turned back to Harley. I moved myself along the train so that Harley was directly in front of me and I pulled myself on top of the train and I took a deep breath, praying that this would work. I swung down, kicking the glass of the train window as hard as I could, relief flooded through me as it shattered and I was flung into the carriage, knocking down a very startled Harley Quinn. Without giving her a chance to recover, I grabbed the gun from her grasp and tossed it down to the other end of the train and pulled out my own pistol, pressing in hard to her forehead.

"Oh look you're the brat that ruined Mister J's fun. Go away girly, I'm workin here." She said in a whiny voice, squirming beneath me and I pressed the gun harder to her.

"Shut up or I'll put a bullet through your brain." I growled through my gritted teeth, I didn't know why I was hesitating. I should have just pulled the trigger then and there but I looked forward and the girl from earlier was standing there, staring at me again. No I couldn't kill Harley in front of all these people; they had already seen far too much blood bloodshed tonight. I hit her in the temple with the butt of my pistol, knocking her out and then tied her to a centre poll in the train carriage. Finally I wiped the sweat from my forehead, allowing myself to sigh in relief that that was over. I stood and noticed that everyone was staring at me, I wasn't used to this much attention from civilians when I was in costume, I fought in the shadows, I doubted any of them even knew who I was.

I pressed my hand to my earpiece, trying to ignore them, "Batman?" I asked, there was a short before he briefly barked back;

"Report."

"Harley's been dealt with and before you start accusing me, she's unconscious, not dead so don't get angry." I said bitterly. "Anywhere else I can help out?""

"No, we've got it under control, go home. Batman out." Came my sharp reply and I sighed, exasperated then muttered;

"Roger that, Midnight out." I turned around and walked over to the body which lay slumped on the ground, crouching down, I examined it. The man was in his late twenties; his fearful, glassy eyes stared up at me. I pulled down his eyelids so he looked like he was merely sleeping. My stomach knotted as I saw the gold wedding ring he wore on his left hand.

I stood up, glaring at Harley, "Fucking psychopath, I hope you rot in Arkham." I muttered under my breath. I turned to the crowd, "Is the driver still alive?" I asked loudly and I received a few nods. "If she wakes up, knock her out." I said, pointing to Harley before walking into the set of carriages that would lead me to the driver cabin, making a quick call to the police to let them know Harley had been taken care of. As I walked I noticed the sound of footsteps behind me, I whirled around, pulling my pistols out, aiming them at the person who was following me.

"Don't shoot!" cried the girl from earlier, her hands raised in the air. I relaxed, putting my pistols back in their holsters. I studied the girl; she was quite thin with brown hair and dark chocolate coloured eyes.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that." I said, continuing my walk, she followed me.

"I'm sorry, I'm just curious." She replied rather bluntly and I looked back, raising a questioning eyebrow. Noticing that I wasn't going to say anything she continued, "How does someone your age become a hero?"

I stopped suddenly and turned around, the girl almost bumped into me. "What's your name?" I asked her.

"Emily."

"Well Emily, let's get one thing straight, I am no hero. I'm far from it. As to how I became what I am, let's just say when all the hope that was in my life was stripped away from me, an opportunity occurred." I said, and she frowned, apparently not at all satisfied with my answer. I could see a form of admiration and envy within the girls expression but I ignored her and made my way to the driver's cabin opening up the door.

"Harley Quinn has been dealt with, you can stop at the next station." I said to the terrified driver who nodded and fiddled with the controls, I walked back into the next carriage and heard Jason in my ear.

"I'm done with Fries, I'll meet with you at the train stop". I smiled, glad to hear that his mission had been a success.

"Sure, see you there Red Hood." I replied, and started to walk back walking back to where Harley was.

"You know the Red Hood?" The girl asked in a surprised voice, "I thought he was just a myth."

"He's as real as they get, he's my partner, he helped train me." I muttered in reply and Emily picked up on the fact that I wasn't in the mood for a conversation. She was silent for the rest of the train ride but she stayed by my side. Finally the train stopped and all the passengers rushed to get out. We were greeted by police officers who immediately took Quinn into custody. I spotted Jason in the nearby shadows and I rushed up to meet him.

"How was Fries?" I asked briefly, He took off his red helmet so that I could see his face, all but his eyes which were hidden by his domino mask.

"Wasn't even a challenge, his suit had been damaged and so he was a little warmer than usual." He grinned and then looked over to where Harley was, "Seems like she wasn't a problem either."

I frowned, "She'd already murdered a man by the time I'd gotten there, he had a wife." I said quietly and Jason nodded, understanding.

"You saved many more in the end." He simply said and I slowly nodded. "Let's get out of here." He continued and just before we left I turned to see Emily smiling and waving at me. I grinned and then allowed Jason's strong arm to wrap around my waist as he propelled us up a nearby building. Within half an hour we were back at our apartment in crime alley.

I walked into my bedroom, pulling off my mask and cape, throwing them on my dresser, I sat down and took off my boots and by the time I had undressed to just my dark red underwear, I heard my door open and I jumped, startled to see Jason standing there, shirtless, in black boxer shorts.

I smiled, remembering his comment he had made to me earlier in the night and walked over to embrace him. His strong arms held me as my lips pressed hard onto his, his tongue entering my mouth. I pushed him onto the bed, crashing down with him and his fingers immediately moved to my bra, undoing its clasp at the back and tossing it aside. I slid my fingers down and pulled his pants down, while he did the same to me. Finally he pulled back, breathlessly and said "Do you want to do this?"

"Yes." I replied instantly and he ran from the room, returning soon after with protection. I pulled him back into the kiss, curling my fingers into his hair as he entered me. I gasped with pleasure and I could feel him smile in our kiss. He gripped me tight as he removed himself and entered again, a moan of pleasure escaping his lips. I loved him and he loved me and that was all that mattered in the world.

* * *

A while later, I lay in his arms in bed, I could hear Jason's heartbeat as he slept. This was the most at peace I had felt in such a long time, since before my parents were killed. The wound that man had given me in the alley way stung and I realised that I needed to change the dressing. Careful not to wake Jason, I tiptoed and put on my underwear, before walking to the bathroom. I was glad to see that the wound had already begun to heal and there was no sign of infection at all. Damian knew what he was doing. I walked to the kitchen and cried out as I saw a man standing there, looking in to our fridge. Jason was there beside me in a moment, his boxer shorts were thankfully on and a pistol was raised in his right hand but he soon lowered it as we both realised who the intruder was.

"Come on Roy, at least knock." The red-headed archer looked at us sheepishly and shrugged.

"I was hungry and needed a place to crash, Kori's up on the roof." He said and then he paused as his eyes landed on me. I realised that I was in only my underwear and I quickly snatched one of Jason's shirt's from a nearby pile of laundry, pulling it on.

"Wait." Roy said, looking between the two of us. "You guys had sex?"

Jason sighed putting his hand on his face, "Roy…just go get Kori…" he groaned, annoyed at his friend.

"You know what; I had enough of this for tonight." I said, to Jason, I need sleep and I walked back to my room, allowing Jason to have some privacy with his old friends.


	11. Chapter 11

I woke to the soft light that shinned through the curtains of my bedroom, yawning, I walked out into the kitchen to see Jason sitting at the table, on his laptop, he looked up at me after a moment and his mouth shifted into that crooked smile that I loved.

"Where's Roy and Kori?" I asked, noticing their apparent absence from the apartment, I sat opposite Jason, stealing a sip from the coffee cup that sat next to his laptop.

"They left for Star City, Roy has some important business with Green Arrow but they'll come back soon enough." I was curious about what type of relationship Roy had with Green Arrow but I decided not to ask.

"I don't suppose you have any good books around here?" I questioned him, I hadn't read one for months now and I was in need of a read. He looked up at me, raising his eyebrows,

"Nope, nothing that would really interest you," he pulled out a hundred dollar note from his nearby wallet and handed it to me, "go buy some." He smiled at me and I looked back at him astonished, I'd never really had this much money free to spend for myself.

"Thank you so much!" I said cheerfully and then ran around to him, kissing him, enjoying the softness of his lips before pulling away and running to get changed.

Within five minutes I was out the door, wearing jeans, knee high boots and a black leather coat on due to the cold weather. I walked over to where my motorbike was parked and climbed on, pulling on my helmet before speeding along the busy streets of Gotham City. I always loved the thrill and exhilaration a motorbike ride gave me and I could always be sure that I would never be pulled over for speeding as the GCPD have better things to worry about.

I was tapping my fingers on the handlebars of my bike, waiting for the streetlight to turn green when I looked around in a nearby park. Casually scanning the area, my eyes spotted a small figure and I gave a small smile. Soon, I had parked my bike alongside the park and walked towards where Damian Wayne was.

"Hey!" I called out to him when he was close enough to hear, I noticed he was playing with a massive great dane, Titus, I recalled. Damian looked at me with scrutinising eyes before a mischievous smile came across his face and he muttered something. I frowned and was just about to ask him to ask him to repeat himself when I saw Titus sprinting towards me, my eyes widened and was about to jump out of the way but I was too slow. The next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the ground with Titus on top of me, his large paws on my chest. Damian was next to him, grinning triumphantly.

"Your reflexes need work." He said and I groaned.

"Um well you need to learn not to sic your dog on people!" I exclaimed, finally managing to push Titus off me and got to my feet, trying to retain some shred of my dignity. I groaned as the wound on my shoulder began to ache again. Damian frowned,

"Shoulder?" he inquired and I merely nodded. "Well I guess that rules out any chance of us sparring." He muttered but I grinned at that.

"I'm not that weak, this small scratch won't stop me from a bit of fun." I said, itching for a good training session, I'd be fine if Damian just avoided the shoulder. Damian seemed to straighten up at my reply and surprisingly to me, a small genuine small crept across his face.

"I'll meet you at the bat-cave in five minutes." He said before running off, calling Titus to follow him. I stood there for a moment, wondering if he had actually driven himself here before simply shaking the thought away and returning to my bike.

I sped as fast as I could through the streets, heading straight for the manor, books could wait, I wanted a good fight. In exactly five minutes I had arrived in the bat-cave where Damian already was waiting, in his Robin outfit, minus the cape and mask. I quickly removed my leather jacket, leaving my plain black tank-top and walked with him to the training room. "Just careful of the shoulder", I said as we quickly took our combat positions

"Tt, please, I'm not an idiot." Damian said as began to circle me. I quickly took on the defensive, studying his movement, getting ready for him to strike. Suddenly he swept a kick at me but I jumped, dodging it and quickly attempted to kick him, mid-air but his forearm blocked it, I flipped back and had to hastily block his oncoming fist. Seeing an opening, I grabbed his arm, managing to flip him on the ground but before I could pin him, he kicked me back before jumping up again. He used a high arching kick on me but I ducked and it narrowly missed me, however, his fist followed and managed to connect with my cheek, disorientating me so I quickly back flipped from his range, using those crucial moments to recover. I swept my leg, aiming for his but he jumped out of the way in time and quickly swung a punch. We were almost backed against one of the walls and I fought to move away from it lest it affect my fighting room. Suddenly Damian darted past me and I turned to see him quickly run up the wall before flipping over and kicking me. I was sent sprawling but before I could regain my senses, Damian had me pinned.

"Wow, using the trick I used to beat you… nice." I said grinning as he let me go and I hopped up, wiping the sweat from my brow. Damian grinned, small beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, it had been a fairly short fight but extremely intense.

"It's nice to have someone decent to spar with once in a while, Father is always too busy and Grayson is always in Bludhaven, which is a pity, he was quite a good patrol partner." Although Damian would never show it, I knew he had to be a bit lonely in this huge manor. No-one but Alfred seemed to be home most of the time.

"Has there ever been anyone besides the previous Robin's around here for you to train with?" I inquired, even though I had been around the Bats for ages, I really hadn't learnt much about their histories.

Damian shrugged nonchalantly, "There is the current Batgirl, Gordon but she was out of action for years as Oracle so we've never had the chance. There was two others though, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. Cain was an excellent warrior, I only wished I could have sparred more with her before she left." He said walking from the training room and I tailed along after him.

"And the other girl? Stephanie?" I saw a small, almost non-existent smile appear on Damian's face.

"She was annoying and talked too much… but was pretty talented, I'll give her that." He sat down at the Bat computer and brought up two files. One of Stephanie Brown: Batgirl and Cassandra Cain: Black Bat. Both had the large red words 'MISSING' written across their images.

"Missing?" I questioned, "what happened."

Damian cast his eyes towards the ground. "We don't know, its as if they both disappeared off the face of the earth. After a long silence he looked back up at me. "Thanks for coming today." He said.

I was startled, this was the nicest Damian had ever been to me. "Uh… yea…. Any time Damian." I said quickly and he nodded. I walked over to my bike, pulling my jacket back on and looked back at Damian who was now staring at the computer screen. His face was grim and his figure was so small. I had to once again remind myself how old Damian was, he was a child and he was definitely a very lonely one.

"Hey Damian" I called and he looked at me, curious, "I mean it, any time, day or night, whenever you need me." He stared at me for ages, studying me before nodding again. There was a glimpse of something that shot through his eyes though, something happy.

I pulled on my helmet yet again, turning the engine on and sped out of the cave, towards the bookstore, however, I couldn't get the thought of Damian out of my head. How it must be for him to live in such an empty home with a father who is rarely home, except at night for patrols and knowing that his mother doesn't love him. Life was too cruel; I just hoped Damian's future would be brighter than the present.

**AN: Decided I needed a chapter with Damian in it this time, due to the recent events I've been crying over from Batman Incorporated. Also I wanted to address the real loss I feel that the new 52 has completely forgotten about Steph and Cass, it's so stupid.**


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